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Post by Morgan on May 10, 2019 20:23:49 GMT -6
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Post by Morgan on May 10, 2019 20:49:18 GMT -6
Morgan was always a bit surprised to hear that certain creature types were considered sentient. This was partially because of the general ethics of training such creatures, and also partially because it just baffled them to know that the Labs sometimes 'wasted' manpower working on something that could be easily viewed as unethical... Not that anyone was bothered by this it seemed. Morgan had, however, learned that seryn were sentient, and that became an object of obsession for a good week. Then, Morgan was able to contact a seller about a pretty koi-colored seryn custom (because no, Morgan was not going to train a common seryn when there were so many options). Morgan was stoked when they realized that not only was it a pretty Koi-colored creature, but it didn't even remotely look like even the VSC Koi that they had seen in catalogs. That was just gorgeous-looking, and certainly worth all of the fancy food it was going to require.
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Post by Morgan on May 10, 2019 20:51:58 GMT -6
The blond human was not exactly sure how to bring the creature to the docks at first, because they refused to bring it in a fish bowl, and eventually gave up and rigged a running temporary tank that was almost too tight-to-fit in the wagon. It felt like a horrible temporary measure, but given this worked well, Morgan planned to give the creature a better deal in the near future. For now, however, this was how it was going to be. The creature stared at them the entire way to the docks, and even now was staring with those strange silver bluish eyes. Morgan stared back into them, wondering what it was thinking. What would I think if I was a sentient fish? The idea was both strange and absolutely preposterous; these were the things that they had to think about when one lived in the Labs-City their entire life. What a strange world.
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Post by Morgan on May 10, 2019 20:57:15 GMT -6
Domino was the name that the old owner had given him. Morgan didn't really meet them, just bought the creature from them and hardly looked at them, but they didn't get a bad vibe from them. They seemed to care about their creatures a lot, so Morgan didn't think about it much. Morgan not only had the time to work with creatures, but the money. Domino had a nice pattern, and Morgan just knew that they could get those colors looking particularly vibrant with just a bit higher quality food... Getting a creature to swap to eating multiple new foods was going to be hard, though. Luckily, Seryn ate most of everything, anyway, so getting it on a high-shine diet wouldn't be too hard, Morgan figured. However, training was tantamount for future feeding times, so today was a quick training day. Morgan hadn't worked with a fish before, but they figured that it shouldn't be too hard, with the creature being sentient and all.
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Post by Morgan on May 10, 2019 21:02:50 GMT -6
Domino stared at Morgan expectantly. It would seem that these creatures were not aggressive, just a bit curious or anxious. That seemed to be the case of it, so hopefully the psycho-social effect wouldn't be too hard to get to develop. Morgan had brought so many different bags of 'treats'. Soft-shell shrimp, petite lady cicadas, tiny calico feeder fish, and various smaller fruits that could be mashed up. Most seryn ate fish food and mostly bugs, but some would eat just about anything that fell into the water, and this custom would be particularly well fed, since Morgan's father had kept fish in the home for a very long time, and had a companion seryn that he brought with him nearly everywhere. Morgan would never admit that it was why they had wanted one so badly. Morgan held a soft-shell shrimp in a baby golden-pink color above the water, and watched as the seryn stared it down, obviously and quickly moving it's gaze to the food item. Smart critter.
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Post by Morgan on May 10, 2019 21:06:55 GMT -6
The creature seemed interested enough in it, and Morgan gently dropped it into the water. Domino snapped it up quicker than Morgan was expected, because Morgan had figured that the Seryn would shy away from new foods. Seemed like she was very adventurous, at least when it came to foods! Morgan stared down into the water with glowing green eyes, and felt a childish wave of excitement and a desire to put something else in for it to eat. Morgan swallowed, pushed it down in favor for scientific dryness, and then placed one of the tiny petite lady cicadas in there. Once again, Domino snapped it up, seeming to relish the strange new taste. Morgan tried not to smile, they really did, and then finally put their palm to their forehead, trying to calm down the sudden wave of emotion. Feeling like crying and screaming at the same time. Instead, Morgan swallowed, and then leaned forward for a moment, hand over their eyes but under their glasses for just a moment.
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Post by Morgan on May 10, 2019 21:21:21 GMT -6
Domino stared at the strange being outside of the tank for a little bit until finally it seemed to move the appendage (fin?) from in front of their eyes. For some reason, the being had four eyes, but two of them weren't attached to their face, how odd! Domino stayed in one place, her fins splayed in such a way to make herself look bigger out of instinct more so than fear. The being was strange, and Domino was not used to being in such a small pond. She had not seen the world like this before! Suddenly, she could hear a noise, and rose close to the surface to hear it better.
Morgan called out the name, all emotion replaced with a scientific curiosity. Healthier, easier to deal with at least. "Domino." The blond human whispered at first. Then, they said it louder, holding one of the tiny shrimp up above the water. "Domino." They said. The koi-like seryn came to the top of the water, and seemed to notice the tempting treat immediately.
[1] - [START of 'Name']
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Post by Morgan on May 10, 2019 21:29:57 GMT -6
That reaction was counted as a desirable reaction. Training was a simple exercise in repetition. Repetition was something that made Morgan feel safe and calm. The habits of the day were carefully curated, everything in its own place. Training was ultimately as easy as the scientific method; enter input - reward good behavior while ignoring the bad. This was a good behavior; Morgan dropped the tiny shrimp in the water, and watched with mild fascination as Domino snapped it up. She seemed to be reacting to Morgan's actions quite quickly; unlike the Malii that had taken some time. Perhaps it was simply the good nature of the seryn, as opposed to the somewhat aggressive strains used to build the malii. Seryn tended not to be overtly aggressive, and tended to bond strongly with owners. Morgan called out the command again, simply, voice a little quavery. "Domino." Morgan took a moment to go for another of the tiny shrimp, and the seryn followed them movement before returning politely to the top of the water like a princess.
[2]
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Post by Morgan on May 10, 2019 21:32:37 GMT -6
Seryn seemed to take to human communication quickly, it seemed. Morgan could remember watching their father spend time with his Seryn; teaching it to do all kinds of things as it flew around the house. A flying fish; if Morgan hadn't been raised near one, they would certainly have not believed in such a thing. This seryn was already an adult and did not fly, so Morgan figured that it may be unable to do so. The thought was suddenly more saddening than anything else. Morgan dropped the treat into the water, since the creature had came to the top whenever the name was called. Now it was time to transfer the creature to the loch. Morgan had made a device specifically for that; a scoop made to quickly and safely cradle the creature while it was moved from the travel tank to the water. The process was swift, but Domino still didn't seem to enjoy it much, of course.
[3]
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Post by Morgan on May 10, 2019 21:37:07 GMT -6
Morgan had wanted to wait to put the creature in the loch because of the chance of losing it, there. Still, the area was blocked off for smaller creatures, so it wouldn't be able to get too far away... Perhaps the blond should have brought their amulet of underwater travel; that might help in these situations in the future. Morgan was pleased, however, to see that the koi-like seryn was not swimming off, but was instead staying near the shore. The blond human pulled out a small berry this time and mushed it between their forefinger and thumb before holding it above the water. "Domino." They said. The koi seryn heard it and came over faster this time, swimming quickly back up to the top and staring Morgan down. Morgan rewarded this behavior with the berry, and the creature snapped it up, seeming to enjoy this one as well. Morgan then pulled out another of the tiny cicadas and then called out something different this time, as soon as the koi turned away.
[4]
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Post by Morgan on May 10, 2019 21:41:12 GMT -6
Interestingly enough, it would seem that fish could hear at least somewhat while in water while close, because the creature did not turn toward Morgan at this time. That was oddly clever; as if it had already gotten the idea that the noise meant the food would happen, which was one of the more important parts of learning this process. Morgan called out the name again, ready to drop the insect into the water. "Domino." The voice was held carefully flat. The creature turned around, silver-blue eyes staring up at Morgan. Morgan was slowly, slowly beginning to get less bothered by it, but they could not stop thinking about their father's seryn. Their father. Morgan missed them, but would not admit that. The cicada was dropped in the water for the seryn, and it seemed to dance in excitement as she snapped the cicada up off of the top of the water. Morgan swallowed again, and stared down at the pretty koi-colored creature with a lump in their throat.
[5]
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Post by Morgan on May 10, 2019 21:46:53 GMT -6
Morgan figured that the psycho-social effect should be doing it's job soon enough, and that the creature would be decently responding to the name very soon. That would make it much easier when it came time to do the other training that the Training Guild was doing. Morgan had joined on a whim in an attempt to spend more energy (the cursed energy that came with the chaos node, the horrible sleeplessness and the multiple-track mind, despite the strokes of genius that came and went) doing something somewhat productive. Besides, the more contacts that were had, the better the chances of finding out what was going on in the Labs. Morgan spoke another word that sounded somewhat like the creature's name, and was pleased when it seemed hesitant before turning around, staring up with those eyes at the food item. Morgan shook their head, tsking, and then put the food item in the palm of their hand to hide it. The creature lost interest soon. Morgan repeated this 'wrong' command, and was pleased to see Domino ignore them completely.
[6]
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Post by Morgan on May 10, 2019 21:51:36 GMT -6
Morgan called out the correct command this time, and was quite pleased to see the seryn turn around and then look up expectantly at them. The blond human dropped the desired cicada into the loch, and Domino grabbed it quite quickly. Morgan repeated this over the next few minutes, alternating the 'wrong' commands, with the 'similar but still wrong' commands, and then the right commands. It was pleasing that the creature was indeed learning, and no longer assuming that the similar commands were the same command. It would appear as if there was some distortion of the word from the water, because the seryn began 'spyhopping'; putting her head above water to 'listen' whenever a noise was heard. At least that was what Morgan hypothesized was going on when it began happening. This seemed to make Domino able to hear her name much more accurately, because she stopped replying to the wrong commands in any way, and kept watching Morgan for food whenever the name was called.
[7] - [END of Name]
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Post by Morgan on May 10, 2019 22:11:43 GMT -6
As soon as Morgan deemed that this was quite fine and that they were done with that for now, Morgan decided to move on to the next aspect of their training. Morgan placed their hand in their pocket, and then pulled out a simple blue whistle. The idea was to use this as an easier method now for future training, because the creature was meant to swim, after all, and there was no way that Morgan would be able to signal it from very far off without one. Morgan had, true to form, already chosen a few different commands that would be easy to remember and would remain the same for all of their creatures. The first idea was to get Domino to learn to come to where Morgan was with a whistled command. Morgan lifted the whistle to their lips after pulling forth one of the coveted small soft-shell shrimp to give to the creature. Morgan bent low, boots on the dock but hand over the water holding the soft-shell shrimp.
[1] - [START of 'Come']
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Post by Morgan on May 10, 2019 22:15:03 GMT -6
Morgan blew the command on the whistle at that, knowing that it would naturally pique the she-koi's interest as soon as she heard it because it was undoubtedly new, and Morgan was sure from previous trial and error with other creatures that the noise would cause the creature to see the food, and then come naturally. Morgan would focus on that. Domino heard the command, a three soft-toned whistle blast, and then turned from her playing towards where the human was, knowing that food was in that direction typically and that noises meant to do something naturally. The seryn was, admittedly, a little less interested in the food and more motivated by genuine interest in the strange humanoid, but food was also good. The calico seryn moved towards the yellow-(scaled?) being and then reached up out of the water gracefully to grab the shrimp that was offered. Morgan allowed the creature to have it.
[2]
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